>> that is it for time. thank you for being here on "newsmakers." >> thank you for having me. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute] >> the senate returns at 2 p.m. eastern. they are scheduled to vote on several amendments around 5:30 p.m. live coverage on c-span 2. the house is not in session on monday. they will dabble in on tuesday to begin a legislative debate. they will recess at 5:30 p.m. for a security sweep. watch live coverage of the house and the president's state of the union address here on c- span. >> if someone paid him and, ok he says that in and gets the money, he summons the editor and says, guess what?

i wrote can and he only published six. but we paid you. that is the standard answer. well, maybe those columns were not good enough. here is a check for about columns that you did not rent here -- print. he was entitled to keep it. that was coolidge's business lesson. he wanted to do business with the other party again. very rare behavior now. i admire that. >> amity shlaes on cololighdge tonight on "q&a." >> tonight u.s. manufacturing with the panel including michael

bennett, john mccain, and amy klobuchar. >> i am editor at large of "the atlanta." special greetings to folks watching live on c-span. you are probably not on live c- span very much. >> i am on live on c-span every now and then. one of my daughters was watching me preside once at the senate. after i was done, i got a call from her and she said, i can be a senator, because i can say "without objection." [laughter] >> there is one bit of disclosure. michael bennett, senator from colorado, happens to be a brother of our editor in chief, james bennett. you would think that would be great access, but it is a hurdle. they do not dislike each other, but they are so careful about not mingling interests of what got you here today was the talk

about immigration. i thought about getting all of you together, but you have slightly different takes. you are a member of the group of eight. maybe it is not a group of 7.5, depending how senator menendez is doing. >> we will see. >> in the question of how the white house -- even today, the president said at the democratic house retreat that he is heartened by democrats and republicans both seem to take this seriously. politics may not be easy. there are regional variations in the country. there is youth and dynamism. i love you in your group of eight role. also sharing your work with the colorado compact. talk about the michael bennett vision of what we need to do to

achieve immigration reform. >> if i can, let me take you to colorado on this issue. that is where my interest started first, as a school superintendent in denver public schools. the lack of resolution for young people who have come to this country through no fault of their own, but have no legal status and have no other country but this one -- their daily life is affected by our inability to deal with this. now that i have been in this job, he two years ago or so, as i traveled the state, everywhere in the state, the issue of immigration came up. sometimes it came up in an open session. sometimes it came up after the session was over. everybody had a very different view of the nature of the problem, but everybody shared the view that it was a problem. one thing from the growers on

the east slope. another thing from the cattle ranchers. another from our students. another from our high-tech community or our ski resorts. with created this opportunity to have a discussion frame around the idea of trying to produce a colorado compact. we ripped off this idea from utah, i should say, where the republican attorney general led a similar conversation. my reason for it at that time was not because i thought we were going to pass immigration reform, but because i was worried that we weren't. people were saying this was really bad for business, bad for the economy. in the absence of discussion, people might begin to reality to other over this issue. just to close off this part of

it, when we announced the compact, seven principles for colorado, it was so bipartisan that when we read it at the press conference, the first grader was my opponent in the 2010 senate race, ken buck. which gives you an understanding of the notion that the immigration system is broken and that washington needs to do its job, which was the first principle. >> how much you hang out with ken buck? last time i saw you, you were drinking beer with each other. is that the colorado tradition? >> i spent a lot of time trying to find things i can do in a bipartisan way. >> this was at the presidential debates in denver. we have a party with your opponent, jointly, drinking beer. >> now, you flash forward to what is going on in washington. it does appear that we have the opportunity, i think, this summer, to pass a broad based

bill that deals not just with one problem, but actually takes on the entire array of ways in which this touches and concerns of our economy. i give my democratic colleagues a lot of credit. we do not call it the game of eight -- gang of eight, because john mccain does not like that term. it is the group of eight. i give him a huge credit for his work, and marco rubio, and lindsey gramm, and jeff like. this might not just be an opportunity to fix immigration, which would be huge, but an opportunity for us to demonstrate to the country that finally we can do something that is hard, and we can do it in a bipartisan way. >> when you think about it and you stepped out these principles, including finding a track for citizens to get legal

but you bump them back behind those that are there. i have read through them. but what point, when you get into deeper specifics -- i have read through the colorado compact and what the group of eight have put on the table. it reads as principals. it does not read specifically. when do you begin losing the bipartisan flamboyance? >> there will be bumps in the road. it will not be an easy thing to do. if it worries you -- were easy to do, it would have been done a long time ago. there are parties ready to get this done, who have heard from home the same things i am hearing. i think we have momentum and need to keep pushing. the principles we enunciated are much more specific. the notion with the colorado complex is similar to what we did when i went in a superintendent, which was to go around and try to get people to agree that we were all going to act, no matter how we were

involved in the project of educating our kids -- we were going to put our kids first. that sounds like obstruction, but when you are in the hard work of having to close schools, it gives you an ability to remind people of what the committed to, which is acting in the interest of kids. whether it is our compact or whether it is here, particularly here, because of the detailed nature, it does give us a road map. and i think it holds together. employer verification, a path to citizenship, making sure we are not rejecting talented people from other countries that have a ph.d. is and a real contribution to make here, and so on all of these things, in a substantive way, hang together. but the politically hang together. over years of debates on immigration reform, it has been clear what the component pieces are that are necessary for a

large deal. i can filibuster all day long, but i do think colorado, in some sense, it is unusual, maybe. we seem to -- the ski resorts of mentioned earlier -- a huge number of moving pieces. >> part of politics is put yourselves in the shoes of your opposition. you have people like rick santorum, that have been very dismissive of this attempt. do you see any valid points they have raised, in terms of their opposition to moving forward? i am going to ask john mccain the same question. >> some people are better at putting people in other people's shoes and other people. to be polite. it is a virtue to do it.

all we do not do a lot of it around here. there are people i have worked with for many years to come in education, for example, who believe we should have a path to citizenship that is not in any way contingent with securing the border. i met with a number of them last week. one of the things i said was, i know we believe that, but there are people who do believe it is important for it to be contingent. i think we have to balance in this proposal. the legislative language strike that balance very well. >> i would like to open the door for comments and questions. we will hold the microphone over to you. if not, i will filibuster. >> had all been, from the council on foreign relations. -- ted alden, from the council on foreign relations. as the country, we are far down the road on border security, but

not work places. >> it is a good question for john mccain when he gets here. seriously. [laughter] that is a very good question. of course, work for security or verification is a significant part of this deal. i suppose it is contingent, in the sense the deal will not be done unless this is part of it. the sequence in time may be different. it may have to do with the substantial amount of investment that has already been done on border security. one of the things we need to understand is, we have already done a lot. there is more to do, but we have done a lot. we should recognize that. for the first time in a long time, a net outflow, which is some of what has given us the opportunity to have this

discussion we have got. i am not dodging the question. i am simply referring it to somebody who is in a better position to answer it. >> that is a former colleague of mine at "the new america's foundation wrote a book about demographic change, arguing that in mexico and other south american countries, the aging rate is happening so rapidly the perspective we have of people wanting to get over the border you will build a massive border facility. the problem is really that we are not attracting enough people. he will not have as many people. the economic problems here -- a lot of people move southward. has this entered the debate at all, the fact that we may be outfitting ourselves for a trend that disappears? >> i think you are thinking longer-term then we tend to think. it is important for us, whether we are talking about this issue

or our deficit issue, to understand the demographic changes that are happening in and around the country. it is also the case -- i know you have been talking about manufacturing. we have a lot of jobs in this country that are unfilled. as a former superintendent of schools, i can tell you that my first priority is that we have to fill those jobs here. we are doing a horrendous job of preparing people for the stem fields that are required to make sure this country actually leads the world in advanced manufacturing. there is so much more we can do. we have not begun to do what we need to do for kids in this country to be ready for the 21st century. while we do that, it seems to me that it makes no sense for us to be saying to people that have acquired advanced degrees here

and our foreign nationals, whose education we subsidized, but for a answer, because of obsolete caps that do not make sense, if that that ought to go build a business to compete with people in the united states. we need those folks here, to be able to drive innovation here. >> senator rubio is going to be addressing the republican side after the state of the union address. one of the comments was that he was going to address the nation in spanish, which is great, but i am wondering -- the language was an issue, last time i checked. how is that going to be perceived? >> the requirement that there be english? >> that if you are legalized, you have to speak english. >> i think that people are -- i think it is understandable that

we would have a requirement. i think people are willing to do that, to make that trade in order to acquire citizenship. by the way, not citizenship only in this context, but also lawful status in the united states so the town worked as their weight in that line to become citizens. >> i imagine there is good to be a saturday night live sketch of president obama reading the state of the union address in spanish. >> i saw a clip here the other night of chuck schumer, dubbed in spanish. somebody said he sounded better. [laughter] >> i do not know if you know bob pastor, an assistant secretary of state, close to jimmy carter. he wrote in the l.a. times this week, saying that biometric id cards could help with the voter fraud issue, he getting out of this constant challenge in of people at polls, but also how with workplace and identification.

>> i cannot speak to it for voting, because i have not looked to it yet. is in the mix. >> i always get more than a bargain for. [laughter] i wish i could say i was going to read this on the way home tonight, but i am not going home. >> it is in our proposal with respect to employee verification. there is a lot of sensitivity around this issue. the way we have designed this, there would not be a central database with people's information. the information will reside on that card, just as the intermission of your printed social security card reside on that card. this is just an electronic, fraud version of a social security card.

i was going to see if i had it. >> i do not know if c-span can zero in. >> i am sorry. it does not matter. >> right here. >> you brought up the issue of needing to educate young people in the manufacturing field, and yet it seems that the last 25 years has had so much emphasis in high schools about preparing people for college. coming from an education background, this is probably a subject you would be well versed to address. many high school classes that used to be geared toward manufacturing, such as shop -- everybody is supposed to be college bound. the first introduction to manufacturing used to be in those shop pclasses. how do we we direct the secondary education system back into the basic manufacturing

trades, which are now perhaps even more lucrative to graduates than going to college? >> first, while i agree with you that there has been an emphasis on having kids go and complete college, we have been highly unsuccessful at doing that. if you were born poor in this country, and are living in a zip code of poverty, your chances of getting a college degree are nine in 100. that means that 91 out of 100 kids do not ever get a chance to decide whether they are going to get a college degree. the that is an outrage. when george bush jr., became president, we lead the world in production of college graduates. today, we are 16th in the world. if it turns into a waste of a month or a year, there is no statistics carrier to me than that, in terms of why we have to get our politics right. i will not give up on the idea that we should be doing a much better job preparing people for college.

having said that, and also agree we need to do a much better job preparing kids for careers. when i met with the college presidents or the carpenters union,, i would hear much the same thing from both of them about the quality of the math skills, for example, that our students said. there is a lot of similarity in terms of skills and knowledge. we do have to think differently about how we organize ourselves around these multiple pathways for students. we were having a hearing today where i asked some panelists about this. just because washington, d.c. thinks about early childhood as

one thing and k-well as something else and vocational and something else does not mean that is how we actually approach these things as human beings. acquiring skills and knowledge for a lifetime of productive work. what that boils down to is being able to have exposure to somebody -- somebody at the hearing today was talking about a program in brooklyn that ibm is doing that exposes kids to work at ibm, so when they finish, they have not just a high-school diploma, but also whether advanced degree required for certification to have one of those jobs that ibm. that is not a natural byproduct of the system we have designed, but it does not mean we could not design a system that would do a better job of doing it. there was a time in our history when the vocational classes or for kids we believe could not hack it in the academic classes. as a result, there river was not

what it should have been. we should not go back to that either. your honor. [laughter] >> i agree. [applause] tough living. >> we are doing one after another. >> the story of my entire life. i did a rowboat call for a candidate in colorado who was running against my friend, michael bennett. his 5-year-old daughter walked into the living room and said, why does john mccain hate you? >> the other half of the story is, when i first came to the senate and they said, you can have a mentor, and i asked for john mccain, john mccain came to the floor and said, i will take you to lunch, young man. i told my daughters this great hero was my mentor. the could not have been happier.

then, when they heard this robo call, it broke their hearts. i told them he did not really mean it. [laughter] >> at the swearing in, i would also like to point out i invited his lovely wife and daughters to come to my office and accept abject apologies. >> goodbye, everyone. thank you. >> senator, nothing has embarrassed me more. daddy, why does john mccain hate you? that is tough. he is a great guy. >> you were in denver when mitt romney and barack obama were debating. michael was hosting a beer bash downtown with ken bock, for whom you did the robo call.

they seem to be doing ok. john mccain, a former candidate for president of the united but -- of the states. >> loser. >> and we are here to talk about benghazi. you have been on immigration since before it was cool. you have been battling it. i happen to be in the hagel hearings, and you talked about the iraq surged and needing one vote. i remember the mccain-kennedy immigration reform vote when you needed a last vote, and it did not come. you have been struggling along time about the future face of the country. when to solve a lot of insoluble problems. we are back at it. i am interested in how this will play out between you and president obama. how will you get it done this time?

>> i think we will. by the way, and when we are doing immigration, i think of ted kennedy all the time. >> is there a ted kennedy up there today? >> no one of his stature on either side. kennedy and i have gone nose to nose on the floor of the senate literally, walked off, and said, "did a pretty good, didn't we?" he gave his word and he kept his word. that is not as abundant a commodity as some civics students might think. what has changed? i think a number of things have changed. we have made significant improvements on border security. that was a key issue to me. arizona is still a major drug- trafficking place in the united states of america, where drugs come across the arizona border to phoenix and are distributed all over the country. there are still coyotes' keeping people in drop houses in phoenix

under unspeakable conditions. but we have made significant improvements, and we know how to make enough improvements that i think you could have operational control over the border, using a lot of equipment we learned in iraq and afghanistan for surveillance and apprehension. i am confident we can get the border secured. what else has changed? elections. let us have a little straight talk. we see a rising demographic from america with a receding number of votes for the republican party. it is fact. to deny that who would just be unfair to any audience. i think that has changed. third, there is a realization around america, maybe there should have been long ago, that we cannot leave 11 million people in the shuttle's forever.

the people we trust, who washed our lawns and -- to cut our lawns and wash our dishes, is it right to leave them in the shadows forever, 11 million people at the risk of being deported forever? i don't think so. i see polling data. americans are much more favorably inclined on that issue, to give them a legal status and a half to citizenship. by the way, that path to citizenship will not be easy. a lot of advocates for hispanic organizations will not be happy about how tough it is. but everybody who came in this room has probably broken a law, whether there were caught or not. if you were, you paid a penalty and moved on. you are not permanently penalized for breaking the law. the climate has changed. american opinion has changed. elections have changed. we still have people who are adamantly opposed, but i am

guardedly confident, and i am working with people who are effective. chuck schumer is effective. i hate him, but he is effective. >> i am sure that just went out on twitter. >> dick durbin is effective. marco rubio is effective. lindsey gramm has been in this thing almost as long as i have. he is effective. all of the people engaged in these negotiations have the respect, i think, of their colleagues. >> when you and lindsey gramm were here in november, mitt romney had just watched -- lost the election. he said, it is one thing to get hit by a fast-moving train. it is another thing to get knocked off the road by a slow- moving bus. pawlenty gramm was so candid about the mistakes the gop made, and was clearly advocating

this line of thinking. when you look at political commentary coming out from the gop, they seem to be unaware of the things you and lindsey gramm work. how big a divide is there between the perspective of what it will take to save the republican party and connect with this new crowd of voters? >> i think it is a number of things we have to do. one of them fundamentally. but they are things we can before rather than be against. now other than being against the deficit. against the things president obama is trying to do on taxes. we have to be four things. we have to explain to people that cutting spending is but for for our economy, not just cutting spending. americans are different from my generation. they have different

philosophies, different ways they approach their challenges and issues in life. we better become attuned to them. when you look at the demographics and the racial component of our base, we think the results are obvious, of what the future holds. one of the most successful periods of the republican party was one we had a contract with america. it was 1992. we told the american people that if they gave us the majority, we would do the following 10 things. we need another contract with america, a positive agenda of how we can help entrepreneurs, how we can help young people get an education, how we can do the things necessary to create an environment for small businesses to flourish. and commit to that agenda. then, if the people are kind

enough to give us a majority, inactive. we have to be four things rather than against. it does not help to be against obama. >> does it cause you grief? i was listening to the afl-cio folks earlier today. there are a lot of components of immigration reform that you are on completely the same page together. i think that gives ted crews heartburn. but you are fine with that, it seems. >> we have a tough negotiations ahead of us. one of the toughest parts that we have not resolved is this whole issue of the guest workers. high-tech workers, no problem. somebody has a ph.d. from mit, he want to stay, god bless you. but when we get into agricultural jobs and low- skilled workers, the devil is in the details. under what conditions can we have a low-skilled worker who is

not a resident citizen in this country, and work? that is a really tough issue between us and the unions. we have good negotiators. we are result oriented. i am guardedly -- let me put it this way. i am more optimistic than i have ever been. but there is still tough bargaining ahead. >> we have a me -- amy klobuchar coming in afterward. they have a bill that removes country caps and expands the h1-b program. when you talk to firms very broadly about this, and the fact that we have a lot of smart, talented people that come into american universities, and we send them back out, and that is probably not the best

economic policy, -- others are raised the point as well. when i worked in the senate ages ago, we were talking about the skills gap for workers. why is this country so bad, it seems, at connecting the work force we have out there to the millions of jobs here? what is missing, in terms of getting that equation at least more right than we have over two decades? >> first of all, despite the fact that i disparage amy all the time and say the people of minnesota made a terrible mistake reelecting her, could i just say, she is really smart on this. she is going to give you a better answer than i am. she has really done great work on this issue. she has a constituency of some major corporations that she really understands the issues. she will give you a better answer and i will.

i think a fundamental of this is, there are jobs in the united states of america for highly qualified scientists, science, math, except for graduates that we want to keep in this country. we ought to find a way to make that happen. it is a lot more complicated than that. in some ways, it is not much more complicated. there are thousands of jobs for people with a level of education. 25,000 chinese students are in this country, taking hire scientific education programs. something like that. if that person wants to stay and work in the united states of america, and there is a crying need for people with those skills and education, let them stay.

we can do it on a temporary basis. we can work out the details of how we could do that. >> let me open it up for questions. make sure, because we do not have much time. >> by the way, after i lost, i slept like a baby. sleep two hours, with up crying. sleep two hours, wake up crying. >> in terms of your immigration bill, what are you doing about the kids who came? they were dragged along. >> the dreamers. we will have provision for the dreamers to have a rapid path to citizenship. they were brought here as children. the fact is, they are in a special category. >> right here. >> steve. i worked in the news business and study here in the city. thank you, senator. do john mccain and barack obamar finally see eye to eye on a piece of legislation? second question --

>> can i answer the first one? >> you and the president finally see eye to eye? >> we see the goal, but we have not seen the specifics of the president's proposal yet. i think he is holding off until he sees what kind of product to get out of the senate and/or the house. i think we see eye to eye on the goal. i am not sure whether we see eye to eye on some of the particulars. >> you, your father, and your son have served in the military. can you comment on the secretary of defense remarks yesterday about the pay cuts? -- pay cuts for troops, regarding sequestration? >> sablan republicans. i blame democrats for ever coming to such a conclusion. i am a great admirer of

secretary panetta. the great national security background. as you may remember, he was chairman of the budget committee in the house. he has a better handle on those issues than any other person. he is beside himself. he says shame on the congress. shame on all of us. there is absolutely no future and no particular -- and no future for defense contractors, waiting to see if we are going to go over another cliff. it is insane. in case you missed it, there was a favorability rating among or so ago. --a moth or so ago. did you know the, favorability of congress was the one below a colonoscopy? we deserve it. having said that, please have the president called us over to the white house, and sit down and try to solve this. can't we come to the white house and sit down and ellis' try that? what do we need to do? what do you want, and what do we want, and what is necessary? general them seem mentioned this morning in a hearing. we just cancel deployment of an

aircraft carrier going to the middle east. the and know what the sailors do? they have canceled the lease on their home. the have gotten rid of their car. the have made all the preparations for being gone for many months. now, they are staying there. why would we do this for these people? because of our ineptitude? it is disgraceful. strong letter to follow. >> on this question, of you and obama, some have said that border security and word that fits in -- if i did not misunderstand you, you

basically described border security as a check off box. one of my blog readers -- the senator would occasionally read my blog. thank you for that. when sent this note he had published in the national post. he said, we have been at this. this was from may and austin. there are 11 million immigrants. where do say the investments are largely there and the situation is better? is that a done deal, or is there much more the would need to be done? and is that a dividing line between you and the white house backs >> i do not know about the position of the white house. i do know we have made significant improvements. there are more improvements to be made, particularly in the area of technology that has been developed in iraq and afghanistan, in ability to surveil and apprehend, whether

we are talking about drones or satellites. in a few months, down on the arizona border, the temperature will be 120 degrees. it is hard on people. it is hard for people to remain efficient during those conditions. the more technology and surveillance capacity you have, the less wear and tear on these brave men and women patrolling our border. we can do that. but it is coined to take a while. [indiscernible] [laughter] >> did you hear senator mccain said he was so sorry you got reelected? one thing i wanted to finish up with is, we are here talking about manufacturing's next

chapter. there seems to be a new spring in the step of talking about manufacturing, that there are new technological breakthroughs happening. there are a lot of problems. the last 10, 15 years, i cannot remember manufacturing conferences that were not more doom and gloom. the you get the sense we are turning a corner in the country? i imagine it is not because of the great vision coming out of capitol hill. i am interested in how you see the manufacturing future of the country, and what you see happening in the economy right now. >> i come from one of the hardest-hit states because of the housing situation. at one time, more than half the homes in arizona were under water. i always said it was a housing

crisis that started this thing, and a recovery in housing would be a sign we are coming out. that is really good news. natural-gas and fracking, amy and i would agree that within 10 years, we are going to be energy independent. can you imagine how that changes our national security priorities? i think that's what businesses are starting to feel better. -- i think that small businesses are starting to feel better. i think the deficit and debt are the long term crisis we need to address. short-term, i am more optimistic than i was a year or so ago. i believe this is the most entrepreneurial, best nation in the world still for invention and innovation. that is why they were invented here. unfortunately, they are made someplace else, but they were invented here. this has changed the world. i spent so much time in the

middle east. i can tell you that social networking has not only changed the middle east, but it will change china. it would change russia. and it has changed our lives. i cannot tell you the changes. we had this conversation a little over two years ago. mubarak is in power. gaddafi is in power. there is no uprising in syria. what you think the world is going to be like two to three years from now? not only is senator klobuchar one the hardest working members of the senate, she is one of the most pleasant to be around. she takes my insults and other barbs with a great deal of good humor, and i enjoy being with her. >> the term mccain standing up

like this on immigration is going to make all the difference. we are excited about what is going on. whenever you travel with him as a woman in the foreign country, and, and it is all guys in power, he makes sure he says this woman is a senator of the state of minnesota. he is a great guy. >> ladies and gentleman, a quick word about john mccain. we are talking today about how immigration. over the years, i have seen senator mccain talk about -- detail. i have been with him when he was steaming on campaign finance, and went to the house to drag people into any action of looking at public interest responsibilities of broadcasters, to and a lot of

corruption on the money side of politics. whether it is national-security issues -- and we often talk about him being a hero because of his military service. after seeing the senate, there is a lot of passive legislative stuff, where people do not take responsibility for what they do. it is a real honor to have you with us today. >> i came through the phoenix airport. the guy runs up to me and says, did anybody ever tell you you look a lot like senator john mccain? doesn't it sometimes makes you mad as hell? [applause] >> how are you. good to see you. we have been having a fun time. sort of a lightning round. we had michael bennett here a bit earlier. it has been a day. everybody deserves a medal for having gone to a marathon, starting a marathon and running all day about this topic of manufacturing. you basically said, there is a gap in the system, where we are not really grabbing the smart, brightest people. to some degree, the american

story is being a brain drain for the rest of the world. you bring smart people here. you keep them and they invest. it is controversial. some people believe that might, displaced workers. you have moved forward in the immigration act of 2013. your best pal is orrin hatch, marco rubio, and chris coons. you definitely have the geographic span going. >> senator hatch and i are leading the bill. it came together when washingtonian magazine voted us the senator is least likely to be in a scandal. that is sad but true. we do have that in common. the other thing we have in common is that brought us together on this bill was truly

our belief that we need a competitive agenda for this country, that we need to move forward in this country. the way we do this is to be a country that makes stuff again, that exports to the world. while our financial sector in minnesota is incredibly important, that cannot be the basis for our economy. i have seen the positive of this first hand in my state. we are down to 5.6% unemployment. while it is not perfect, one of the reasons we are doing better than the rest of the country is, we have this innovation in manufacturing. we have companies like 3m and medtronic. we have the biggest private company. we always believed that science and engineering is at its base in our economy. we brought the world everything from the pacemaker to the post- it note. how do we extend that to the rest of the country, and expanded for minnesota as well? i have come up with an export that is pretty obvious. but making sure that is expanded to small and medium-sized business, where 90% of our

customers are outside of our borders, bringing the debt down so that investors have confidence in our country and we can move forward. 3, that we do something on rules and regulation. i could talk about vises that would make a big difference. a lot of our topic today is, we have the work force we need, and the world's talent. that is how we have always gotten the way we want to go. part of it is training workers for today and tomorrow. another part is opening our doors to people in other countries. 30% of u.s. nobel laureates haar -- are foriegn-born. we have unlimited caps for the sports stars. minnesota has not had the best years, but we love our teams. nfl hockey teams, over 50% of

their players come from other countries. mostly canada. it is unlimited. so we do that. but what do we do with our engineers and scientists? we have a 65,000 cap right now for a visa. that is 1/3 of what we had in 2001. have we have gone down who in what we are allowing in our country and in our workplaces. and we are basically training our competitors. people are coming in, getting degrees in our universities. if they do not have a job or an ability to get a green card, we sent them back to india to

start the next kugel. >> the fair criticism of that is -- i get the logic of bringing smart, talented people to the country, keeping them here, and having them in the mill you of the united states. -- milieu of the united states. why are we so bad and getting our talent into those jobs? we have been talking about this for 20 years or more, and we seem to have done a miserably bad job. we import those people instead of transforming ourselves. that is the question john mccain asked me to ask you. >> what else did he say? i do think that we are seeing improvement. in my state, more and more people are going into the

finance and technology. i have seen those school science bears. something we never did in high school. you see 16 year olds competing with their experience. -- experiments. in addition to training our own workers and making that a huge priority -- it is not just advanced degrees. it is to year degrees in technology that are important. 20% of the jobs openings right now -- the president gave us a statistic that our retreat yesterday. jobs are open in the technology sector. "we have always had a combination of training our own and opening our doors to others. our response to this argument is, what is happening right now is we do not allow people in, and we are contract and out with them in other countries. then, when they hire their research assistant, that person is french. i know someone in minnesota who did not get their application

in time. the cap of vises got filled. the contract it out. mayor bloomberg and mayor castro commissioned a study. for every h1-b visa we have, it generates to jobs in america because of the people they hire. if you look at the numbers, we create more jobs when we have scientists and engineers. of the same time, simultaneously, we have to train people. what this bill does is, here it says we are going to at the same time raise the cap from 65,000 to about 165,000 in the first year. and then we are going to have an escalator of 20,000 year until we reached 300,000. that is the bill as we proposed it right now. at the same time, here is going to be an increase for each of the sahara application, and that will be used for stem training in our own schools. at a minimum, it is $3 billion in 10 years.

it could be as much as $5 billion in 10 years. we have gotten that by combining educating our own students with making it easier to bring in some of these best and the brightest. >> if i told you who i have looked at your bill, and what is interesting about the bipartisan support is the likelihood of bipartisan opposition. john mccain is probably going to have to stare down ted cruz. all you have to stare down in your own ranks? >> it is complicated to explain. we came up with a cool name, in edition -- i-squared. part of it is making it very

clear that when you look at the numbers, it means more jobs in america, and that we are doing things to train workers on the same jobs. >> you are not going to talk about who? >> we will have no critics. i am kidding. you do not want to make critics would you do not have them. the president actually mentioned this part of immigration reform. he mentioned the path to citizenship and all the other things you probably talked about today that are being worked on with the gang of eight. senator rubio when i feel very strongly about this. it will be included in the overall bill.

it will generate a different kind of support. we believe it should be part of the overall bill. >> we just had the deputy director of ostp, one of the smartest guys in washington. he seems like columbo and seems kind of bumbling sometimes, but he is very smart on these issues. he told me the administration supports removing the country caps. they support a kind of entrepreneurial start-ups visa, so that entrepreneurs that come here -- >> that will probably be a separate bill. >> and there was another element of this. but it seems aligned with the core components. it seems to are already moving along. >> we are building support,

working with them. we have been focused on the h1- b's, but there is green card reform as well, changing the country caps and literally stapling a green card to a diploma for an advanced degree holders, something we do not do enough. >> i cannot see you guys over there. >> i thought it was a green card. >> i do not need one yet. i do want to ask one question. one of the reasons i was so committed to today's discussion in this conference and you and i have talked about this is, i have this -- an experience a few years ago. three back-to-back talks. one was with christine lagarde. now, she is the head of the imf, but before, she was the science minister off for france. we had obama's heck officer, saying we had a tech crisis in universities. because of 9/11, we were blocking talented people from coming into the country. it did not matter whether there were tourists.

nobody wanted to take risks with people coming into the country. the state department denied this was happening. in fact, there were large rejection rates. the next night, i happened to be at a thing with john ashcroft, who was then attorney general. i said, the president's science advisers said this is a crisis. he said, it will take a seven rate years to sort out. we did not have the technology or methodology to screen good people from bed, and there were too many disincentives to bring people in. it is kind of like the larry lindsey comment that war's cost hundreds of billions of dollars. there were people who understand the trade-offs. the following night, the ceo of intel reported who these comments and said, if we do not fix this in six or seven months, we lose the cycle of talent coming into the country, and we will be forced to invest in r&d facilities abroad.

who you think the united states is finally getting passed its -- past its terrorism fear caused keeping people out? are we turning the corner? does this mean america is unclenching a little bit, becoming more comfortable with people coming back? >> i do nothing we can ever say we should not be afraid of terrorism. it is still there. but our intelligence gathering is better. there can always be something that goes wrong. but we have gotten to the point where we need to take the security lessons we have learned, keep that in place, and design a system which will allow people who are not close to being terrorists into our country. i would agree there has been a sea change in terms of people realizing -- let me use the example of tourism to support what your saying. we have lost 16% of the international tourism market since 9/11. it is not because of the

economy. it was our piece of the pie that we lost, that went to indonesia, france, england. we are in the process of gaining it back, and it is a good thing. we are seeing a rise in international tourism in this country. every point we gain back is 160,000 jobs in america. they are tourism jobs. they cannot go anywhere else. we can keep all the security measures we put in place. but let us put, the officers were the demand is. why was it taking 180 days for somebody in shanghai to get a tourist visa to come to america, and only 10 days to go to england? the state department undersecretary clinton, which will be continued -- i talked at length about this with

secretary perry -- kerry. we need to put the officers were the demand is. they are profit centers because of the visa fees where the jobs in america. that is an example of what we can do better, in terms of changes that can be made without even passing legislation. i think that is what ashcroft was getting at. >> that is an easy 2 million jobs with the 16% black. >> that is the easiest low hanging fruit for exports. the biggest chunk of that, in addition to agriculture equipment for minnesota, and medical devices, will be tourism. >> we have arthur and eric. the microphone. >> i want to confirm the numbers.

right now, we have 65,000 h1-b visas allowed under this cap. our bill puts at about 115,000 the first year. we escalate up to 300 dozen. that is what the numbers are. -- come up to 300,000. that is what the numbers are. >> my name is eric watkins. i have a question about temporarily agriculture workers. back in the late 1950's, a work shoulder to shoulder with bracero workers. hard working. very honest. even though the program did not allow families to come, they did. these hard-working men had their wives and children with them. does the current conception of legislation for temporary i recall co-workers provide for families to join these men in the field? secondly, is there a provision to look for housing and health care for these workers? >> i know that my neighbor --

dianne feinstein is my neighbor. know that my neighbor -- i always like to say dianne feinstein is my neighbor, but i point out it is at work. she works in the offices as opposed to home. she works next to me, and she is working very hard on that piece of the bill, and knows very well what you are talking about representing the state of california. working with senator rubio and others on that bill. i know they are in the middle of negotiations so i do not want to put words in her mouth, but i know that the family concern is a piece. >> it is interesting that the afl-cio have a very proactive, progressive position on this and are out advertising and moving that now. i asked senator mccain.

he said, they are in exactly the same place. this is important. it is a larger picture where seemingly fighting pieces, kennedy and others with his early legislation, there is more goodwill to try to move this forward. >> it would be in a bigger bill. i think it is a good thing we have these two bills that are arguably complicated but do separate things. the agriculture workers and the one with senator hatch, the expert bill. they are completely related to the immigration issue. it is good we will get the language done on those bills, because they have been traditionally very complex areas. that is part of why we are proceeding in this way. >> you touched on tourism being a issue. there has been no greater champion than yourself and senator mikulski. the waiver program extension. is there appetite to get this thing done. do we link this up with immigration -- can we get it done next year? >> about visa waivers. we look at each country on a

case-by-case basis. poland i know. i just met with the polish foreign minister. the act is our bill that i had with senator schumer leading up, senator rubio and i and a group of eight senators introduced it last year. we would hope because it is in the judiciary committee that it is something we could put on this immigration bill. because of that broad support. a number of provisions for places like poland, related to making tourism easier. when you look at the growing middle class in these countries that want to visit america -- at my hearing, they showed a tape from brazil. their version of "good morning

america" -- it showed people in line trying to get tourist visas to come to america, sleeping on the sidewalk for days because we did not have enough. now we are building -- they are profit centers because of visa fees paid. >> i have been told to stop. we will take these two last questions fast. >> thank you. my question is, i think the immigration thing is perfect, but would you have a consideration about other things, education and infrastructure? >> let me take this last question here. >> from the embassy of singapore. i'm struck by the fact that when you want a student visa you disavow any intent of staying on in america. how welcoming is america in a global war for talent even if they expand the? >> final thoughts? >> lets and with the bigger

picture. part of this bill is for students if they get an advanced degree, they should be allowed to stay for some time and not just be sent back to singapore. senator mccain and i just met with your foreign minister, who is an incredibly smart guy. the whole idea here is that what we have been doing which is so hurtful of our own nation, training our competition at our great universities and saying, you do not have a job right now or are going to a small business that cannot get you a green card -- sorry. do you want to make the next pacemaker? you will have to go back. that is not helping us. i have heard this from the president of st. cloud state in minnesota, they are having trouble. they have great students who are training but if they do not

have jobs right away they have to go back. i am bringing him as an example for our state of why this is more than just about fortune 500 companies. this is about the fabric of our communities. i think that is a very good question and is part of why we are making changes in this bill. your question was just about everything -- thank you for bringing up education, infrastructure. this is all about the competitive agenda in the country. you see how senator mccain and i get along. there is some appetite to move ahead. the next few years in america, over there on the hill, will not just be standing alone giving a speech. it will be whether or not you are willing to stand next to someone you do not always agree with for the betterment of this country. i believe that is how we will move forward. >> as our ceo at atlantic live closes out the session, i want to say a word of thanks to amy klobuchar and john mccain and michael bennet. this was a real night -- this

issue is hard. the issues we talked about throughout the day are highly consequential, but what the face of the american workforce is and how to deal with issues where america has been in a self-defeating position for a long time, that is tough to move people out of their grooves. i really do appreciate -- and think you helping to make that happen. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2013] >> next, more on immigration from president obama, speaking at the house democratic issues and he talekked about his plans for the state of the union. this is about 20 minutes. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. fired up?

let me just say to all of the leaders gathered here today, because we are here as leaders for the 310 million americans who cannot be in washington every day to cast votes, to change this country for the better. they have asked us, they have given us the privilege to do that for them. we're hear, minds focused, sleeves rolled up, because we know we have work to do. we know we need to have a leader of this country who is ready to get to work. my friends, i don't think there is any doubt in november, the american people decided they knew who they wanted to be their leader for the next four years. [cheers and applause]

we are very pleased that today we convey a message to our president, barack obama that we are ready to work. we see what it means to work. under the leadership of our leader and then speaker nancy pelosi we work with president obama to make sure we turn -- we turn an economy that was hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month. we have turned it into a economy that has created 6 million jobs over the last three years. under the leadership of president obama and our leader nancy pelosi, we have helped 105 million americans who no longer have to fear if their child contracts diabetes or in an accident that they will run out of insurance before that child is ready to go back to

living a regular life. under this president, we told hundreds of thousands of young americans that they can dream was and no longer be separated from their families because they came through no fault of their own to this country without immigration documents. so, my fellow americans and fellow democrats, are we ready to tell our president, barack obama, that we're ready to work? are we ready to tell our president that we're ready to lead with him and take on the major challenges? because i remember what a good friend and neighbor of mine always said to his children. he used to tell his daughter when his daughter and my daughter were playing t-ball and then little league ball.

vanessa, wait until that young pitcher throws the ball wait outside the plate and take the first base after you walk or you can be a hitter. you can try to smack that ball. if you don't always hit it, don't worry. if you're a hitter, you will success -- succeed. i think we're ready to tell america that the house of representatives are full of leaders that are ready to be hitters. [cheers and applause] we know that on our team, on america's team, we got the best cleanup hitter in the world and it is with great pride that i introduce you to the captain of the america's team, the person who will help us hit out of the park when it comes to gun safety. the person who will score the points we need when we have a

broken immigration system to one that will work for all americans. and we have a leader that will help put america back to work. give a warm welcome to the president of the united states barack obama. [cheers and applause] >> thank you. thank you. thank you, everybody. have a seat. have a seat. thank you for that very gracious introduction and you're outstanding leadership. let me begin by saying that i

could not be happier that one of my most important friends and partners is still leading our democrats in the house of representatives. i love nancy pelosi. give her a big round of applause. [cheers and applause] i love nancy pelosi. also, she just generates good- looking grand babies. they are so handsome and sharp, and beautiful. to hoyer and jim as well as javier, thank you for the great work that you guys are doing each afternoon day. to steve israel who worked tirelessly to bring on 49 new

outstanding members of this caucus. [cheers and applause] i am looking forward to spending time with all 49 of you. thefully we'll see you at white house and at various events but i know you came here to get something done. i look forward to working with you every single day to do what is right by the people who sent us here. i changed the format here. originally the way this is scheduled, i was going to talk and shake some hands and i thought since this is not a shy bunch. it might make sense for me to take some questions and advice, i'm sure you guys have for me. what i'm going to do is make a

few points a the top and what i would like is maybe somebody can come up here and you can call on folks and we'll spend a little time with q&a before i have a chance to say hello to everybody. i want to keep my remark short because i made a pretty long speech a couple weeks ago. i'm about to make another one next week and i don't want you guy tired of me. but, obviously, i'm deeply grateful to be re-elected and i'm humbled by the support that i received from all across the country. [cheers and applause] and i said at the breakfast this morning and i was telling the truth, i general am humbled. the longer you're in this job the more humble you get. you recognize your own imperfections and you try to make it up with effort and hard

work. those gaps in your personality or your intelligence become so apparent to everybody on "the daily news" every day. as important it is to be humble by the privilege of this office and the privilege of serving in the congress, even if it is important not to read too much into any particular political victory. this country is big, diverse, and we don't have a monopoly on wisdom. we need to remember that. despite all of those things, it

is important for us to feel confident and bold about the values we care about and what we stand for. i try to do that in any inauguration speech and i'm hoping we do that over the next four years. when i think about what means to be a democrat, in this day and age, i start with the basic proposition that we're all created equal. we're all endowed by our creator with certain rights. and my governing philosophy and my interest in public service grows out how we make that union more perfect for people day in and day out.

that starts with an economy that works for everybody. throughout many campaigns we talked about this bedrock notion that our economy succeeds and our economy gross when everybody says getting a fair shot and everybody is getting a fair shake. we have an economy in which we're growing a vibrant middle class that it grows from the middle out, not from the top down. over the next four years as i work with this caucus and every caucus, the question i will ask myself on every item, every issue is this helping to make sure that everybody has a fair shot and everybody is doing their fair share and everybody

is plague by the same rules. i believe that is a growth agenda, not just an equity agenda pap. that is when we have grown fast. that means what you will hear from me next week, i'm going to talk about making sure that we're focused on job creation here in the united states of america. [cheers and applause] it means we're focused on education and that every young person is equipped with the skills they need to compete in the 21st century. it means that we got an energy

agenda that can make us less depend on foreign oil but we're also cultivating clean energy strategy that will maintain our leadership well into the future. it means that we're going to talk about, yes, deficits and taxes and sequesters and potential government shutdowns, debt ceiling, we'll talk about that stuff. but we'll talk about it from the perspective on how we're making sure someone works hard in this country. a cop, teacher, a construction worker, or a reception worker, they can make it if they work hard. their kids can make it and dream bigger dreams than they have achieved. obviously, a lot of what we'll be working on over the next few weeks is going to be on how do we deal with this sequester issue. i want to make this quick point. i had a press conference this week in which i reiterated that i'm prepared, eager, and anxious that ends this government by crisis that every two week or every two months or every six months we are threatening this hard recovery, are finally housing is picking up and real estate is doing better and unemployment numbers are still too high. we're seeing job growth and manufacturing is doing well and we continue to have these self-

inflicted crisis here in washington where suddenly someone taps the brakes. what i said this week was i want to do something big to provide certainty to american families. that means a balanced package that will reduce our long-term deficit and debt but that still allows us to invest in those things that we need to grow right now. [cheers and applause] that is also a deficit reduction agenda that is growing faster. in other words to have a balanced package that means we

have done a lot of cuts, we've done some revenue now. so the rest of the way moving forward we can do some additional reforms and make our health care programs work better. we can cut out programs we don't need. it also means we have to be able to close some tax loopholes that the average american cannot take advantage of, raise the revenue to do the job that allows us to continue to grow. the reason this is relevant because i gather, i haven't gotten this from first-hand sours -- sources but our friends on the other side of the aisle is we're concerned about the sequester. we recognize that cutting the

federal spending with a meat ax opposed to with a scalpel will damage our national security, our educational service, we'll have kids getting kicked off of head-start and people who have disabled kids have less help. they recognize that the sequester is a bad idea but what they suggested is the only way to replace it is for us to cut social security, cut medicare, and not close a single loophole, not raise any additional revenue from the wealthiest americans or corporations who have a lot of lawyers and accountants and are able to maneuver and manage and work the system. i have to tell you that is an argument they want to have before the court of public opinion, that is an argument i'm willing to engage in. [cheers and applause]

i believe that the american people understand -- i believe that the american people understand that yes, we need to reduce the deficit but it should not be on the backs of the seniors or the on the backs of the young people who are trying to get a college education, it should not be on the backs of the parent who is are trying to give their kids a better start in life. we all have to participate. it is important that we make sure we have a strong national defense. we need to reduce our spending in a smart way. we should be willing to ask those of us who are luckiest in society to close a few loopholes in deductions that the average american doesn't get. is that the choice that we got, i promise you we can win that debate because we're on the right side of this argument. i expect that you guys will be with me on that.

[cheers and applause] last point i will make. obviously, economic growth is a priority but making sure that we're opening up opportunity for everybody is also important. that's why immigration reform is so critical. [cheers and applause] i said this is going to be a top priority and an early priority of my administration. i'm heartened to she republicans and democrats starting to be in a serious conversation about getting this done. now is the time. i recognize that the politics aren't always easy, there are regional variations. i understand in some places this may end up being a tough issue. but what i also know is that part of your strength is our youth and our history of attracting talent from all warned the global. -- around the globe. i've seen that talent from those who want to serve in the military, want to get an engineering degree, want to help build this country, want to start a business. i want to make sure that american future is secured. i'm going to be pushing hard to

get it done early. [cheers and applause] we're also going to make sure we keep the american people safe which means that we're going to continue to work as we draw down our troops in afghanistan to go after those who would attack america. and we've got to be mindful about steps we can take to end the cycle of gun violence in this country and we should do so recognizing that, again, there are regional differences. we should respect those. guns mean something different from someone who grew up in a farm, somebody who grew up in an inner city. there are different realities and we have to respect them. but what we know is that majority of gun owners know that 100 or 1,000 more of our children are shot or killed in a senseless fashion. there are common sense steps we can take to build a consensus around -- we cannot shy away from taking those steps. bottom library is, people we have a lot of work -- bottom line is, we have a lot of work to do. it won't be simple, there will

be frustrations. there will be times where you guys are mad at me. i will occasionally read about it. but, as long as we keep in mind why we came here in the first place. as long as we think back to whatever inspired each of us to say maybe i can give something back. maybe i can make a difference. maybe my purpose here on earth is to not just think about what is in it for me but what is in

it for the broader community, for my neighborhood, for my state, for my community. we need to keep that in mind every day, i have no doubt that we will continue our extraordinary progress that we've made already. as a by-product of doing that good work and keeping that focus, i would expect that nancy pelosi will be speaker again pretty soon. thank you very much, everybody. god bless you. [cheers and applause] [cheers and applause] >>